


on the count of three

by InvadingThoughts



Category: Banana Bus Squad
Genre: Angst, Blood, Drug reference, Explosions, Gang AU, Guns, Happy Ending, M/M, Swearing, Unrequited Love, Violence, Wounds/Injuries, but that idea didn't work out, death mention, death reference, drug mention, im super proud of this, it was meant to be platonic, life threatening injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-09
Updated: 2015-11-09
Packaged: 2018-04-30 20:41:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5178884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InvadingThoughts/pseuds/InvadingThoughts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Evan! Evan, I need you to talk to me, buddy. Can you do that for me, yeah?"</p><p>The words were distorted, as if somebody was talking to him through an old radio speaker and Evan could barely understand what was being said. His ears were ringing- a high pitched screaming sound that blocked out most of the world- and his head felt to heavy to hold up on its own anymore. He could taste blood on his tongue and the smell of burning that surrounded him made him scared to open his eyes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	on the count of three

"Evan! Evan, I _need_ you to talk to me, buddy. Can you do that for me, yeah?"

The words were distorted, as if somebody was talking to him through an old radio speaker and Evan could barely understand what was being said. His ears were ringing- a high pitched screaming sound that blocked out most of the world- and his head felt to heavy to hold up on its own anymore. He could taste blood on his tongue and the smell of burning that surrounded him made him scared to open his eyes.

"Ugh..." He groaned, raising his hand to press against his forehead. It seemed like everything in his body was hurting and when he finally opened his eyes the light was painfully bright.

"Okay... okay... okay we can do this. Quick and quiet, come on Vanoss," the voice spoke again, but Evan quickly realised it was Tyler. He felt his best friend grab for his hand, pulling him up until he was standing on two feet, hesitating slightly before letting him go. He stumbled slightly, but caught himself before he fell. He felt like death and it was purely luck that he wasn't _actually_ dead.

The sound around him was slowly getting better, but he quickly realised that was a bad thing. It suffocated him, drowning him in the sounds of screaming and blaring alarms. It took all of his strength to stumble forwards in the direction that Wildcat pulled him in, and Evan knew they were to blame for this whole mess. Sure it was their job, but he could help but wonder of what they did was actually the right thing.

"You still alive back there?" Tyler asked. He was obviously trying to keep his words light- almost as if her were joking- but Evan knew him better than that and he could hear the panic hidden in his tone, "I need you to keep going Evan, can't do this alone,"

"Tyler..." He groaned, and his best friend quickly glanced over his shoulder. Wildcat's face was covered in dirt and blood, clearly from the wound that sat just below his hairline. He was limping as they walked through the dark corridors and Evan realized his friend actually had pretty bad burn marks on his arms and legs. It looked like Tyler had been through hell and Evan probably didn't look much better.

"We did good... right? Tell me _that all of this_ ," he gestured around him," was a good idea. That it was worth it, cause I sure need some reassurance right now,"

"I'm not sure myself, to be honest," Vanoss replied and he watched as the muscles in Tyler's shoulders suddenly tensed.

"Fuck..."

"What? What's wrong?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I think I'm just walking us around in circles, this place is like a huge fucking maze and I'm flinching at every random ass sound, dude," He replied, running his hand through his hair,"... But... we'll get through this. Always do, no-nothing bad is gonna happen to us, I swear," Wildcat stuttered, and something about his tone suggested he didn't quite believe his own words.

Evan nodded in agreement, he didn't really want to think about what could end up happening to them, so instead he tried to distract himself,"That was one huge fucking explosion we caused, I seriously didn't think it would be that big," he mumbled, coughing as he spoke and he followed Tyler into a dimly lit room. He vaguely recognised it, they'd passed it on their way down to the basement and if his memory served him correctly, it was actually pretty close to the exit.

"Yeah... But it doesn't matter now. Brock is waiting for us outside, I just fucking wish our stupid headsets still worked so we could talk to him," he muttered, throwing his hands up in the air and Evan shook his head.

"Just- just stop, okay. We're gonna be fine, we're almost to the exit and Brock would've heard the explosion already. He'll be ready for us and we'll be out of here in the blink of an eye," Evan reassured him, smiling lightly.

They'd stopped walking for a moment, choosing to instead stand by the side of the room to rest and Tyler was leaning up against the wall. Evan moved closer in an attempt to wrap his friend up in a hug, but he quickly realised that Tyler's breath was coming out in short pants. He sounded like he was in constant pain with every breath he took and his arm was clutched against his side.

"Ty, what are you not telling me?" He whispered, reaching out to touch Wildcat's arm but his friend just flinched away from him. He raised his eyes to look at Evan's, and it was obvious to see just how much pain he was in.

"We need to keep moving, Evan. They're probably searching this whole building as we speak and we don't want them to block the exits," Wildcat groaned, straightening up and moving towards the door. Evan followed him close behind, trying to get a clear look at his injuries.

"I can't help you if you don't tell me what the fuck is going on," He argued, his voice clearly showing how panicked he was.

"I'm gonna get you to the car even if it kills me, that's what's fucking going on," Tyler growled, and Evan's head snapped up to look at him.

"You bloody _asshole_. Just fucking stop, okay!" He yelled, growing more frustrated with Tyler's behaviour by the second. Wildcat's words scared him and he could feel the beginning of tears forming in his eyes.

The idea of Tyler dying tonight made him want to cry.

They both heard the yelling from behind them at the same time and Evan's eyes widened in fear. He turned to face Wildcat- about to ask what they're plan was- but his friend just roughly grabbed his forearm and pulled him along with him. Evan kept his mouth shut, hoping not to alert the guards as to where they were, but Tyler didn't bother playing along.

"I'm not letting you die tonight, _dickhead_. Not after we've actually won this fight, that would be the lamest death ever. So stop bitching about me and speed walk your ass to the exit now," He spat and Vanoss just sighed,"I'm not going to let anything happen to you, Evan,"

"I know, I trust you,"

"Trust doesn't mean shit in a gun battle, buddy," Tyler replied with a small smile and Evan forced one of his own back. They moved quickly through the halls, ducking around corners and constantly making sure to glance behind them as the walked.

They're were within a few feet of the fire exit when Tyler suddenly tugged Evan behind a corner, just within seconds of a bullet zipping past his ear. They could hear shouting as they hid, and Evan assumed the guard was running off to alert the others.

He let out a rush of air and thanked Tyler with his eyes.

"Look, here's how this works is gonna go down. When I give the signal, you're gonna sprint to the exit and get to Brock as fast as you can. Don't look back, don't hesitate for even a second and _don't_ argue with me," He scolded, catching sight of Evan opening his mouth to disagree, "I'm going to cover you with my gun, and I'll do my best to be right behind you every step of the way, Vanoss. But if I can't, if I get pinned down... Go. Leave me and run,"

"No fucking way,"

" _Yes_ , this isn't a debate," Wildcat replied and his tone suggested that Evan had no chance in changing his mind.

"What makes me so fucking special! What is it about me that means I get put first in every fight we get into and you're left vulnerable. I'm so sick of this damn hero complex of yours, stop trying to fucking save me and care about yourself for once, _please_ ," Evan begged, gripping tightly onto Tyler's shoulders and shaking him slightly.

"Fucking hell, Evan. Because I'm in love you, that's why!" Tyler screamed back, his hands moving to frame Evan's face as he leant forward and kissed him roughly. It was desperate and barely lasted more than a few seconds, but Evan felt as if all of the air had been knocked out of his chest. When Wildcat pulled away, he was breathing heavily and his eyes deliberately avoided Evan's.

The air between them grew silent but it didn't take long for Wildcat to break it.

"It's not just that, though..." He whispered, pulling up the side of his shirt to reveal the injury that he'd been hiding from Vanoss. A large piece of metal cut into Tyler's skin, just below his ribs and it shifted in his skin every time he breathed, "you understand now Evan? Make this easier for me, buddy. I'm not stupid, I know who you have feelings for and it's definitely not me. Let me do this for you, because this bad boy is in there deep and even if I make it out of this building, there's no guarantee I'll _actually_ make it,"

"Tyler..." Evan breathed, pain written all over his face.

" _Please_ ,"

Evan could feel the tears flowing freely down his cheeks and it was the hardest thing he'd even done in his life as he nodded his head, agreeing to Wildcat's plan. Tyler was right, while he loved Tyler, it wasn't in the same way as his friend. Tyler was his brother, his best friend and the only solid thing in his life. Romantically, Tyler wasn't his type and it hurt that he couldn't give his friend what he really wanted.

"On the count of three, you need to run." Tyler muttered, peaking his head around the corner slightly.

"I love you," Evan whispered.

"I know. Just not the way I want, but that's okay and I'm not going down without a fight- you know that. I'm a tough son of a bitch," Tyler grinned, heartbroken that he'd made Evan cry.

"That's true," he replied, smiling sadly.

"One,"

"Two,"

"Three, run!"

Evan's heart stopped at the same time his legs took off running. The desperate urge to constantly check over his shoulder burned in his mind but Tyler had asked him not too and this was the least he could do. He bolted past the guards, shoving a few of them out of his way before bursting out of the door and into the cool air. It was pitch black, they'd planned the heist to be done at midnight- mainly for the cover of darkness and Mother Nature didn't disappoint.

He could hear the gun shots getting quieter behind him as he sprinted for the car park, catching sight of Brock sitting in their van, waiting. He ripped the door open with way to much force and threw himself into the back seat, spinning around quickly to look behind him.

The darkness hindered him in searching for Tyler, but when he spotted his best friend slowly hobbling across the grass towards them he almost passed out. Tyler was alive but walking way too slowly to get to the car in time.

"We _need_ to go, Evan. They're calling in reinforcements and we're not prepared enough to handle anymore angry drug dealers coming for our blood. Tyler told me to leave him behind if it meant keeping you safe, and we need to leave now," Brock stated, speaking quickly as he started the engine and set the van into gear.

Evan shook his head violently, "We can't just leave him here, they'll _kill_ him!"

"And they'll kill us _too_ if we don't leave," Moo argued, begging Evan with his eyes to let him just leave.

Evan didn't respond, instead he jumped out of the car and ran- this time back towards Wildcat. He could see the anger in his friends eyes as he approached, but he didn't care. He skidded to a stop in front of Tyler, ignoring his angry swearing and instead hooked his arms underneath his legs and pulled him up until he was safely carrying him in his arms.

"Evan! What the fuck are you doing! You promised me you son of a bitch, you were meant to stay safe. I'm gonna fucking kill Brock, I don't care if you're in love with him or not," Tyler spat, flopping his head to lean against Evan's shoulder.

"Shut up,"

"You're gonna get yourself killed," Tyler argued as Evan walked as fast as he could.

"I couldn't live with myself if you died for me," Vanoss replied, trying to stay ahead of the men that had started to chase them.

Wildcat rolled his eyes, but fell silent in Evan's arms. It was a only few seconds later that they were cut off by Brock pulling in front of them with the van, and Evan silently promised himself that he'd kiss him later- once they'd all made it out safely. He quickly tossed his friend into the back of the van and climbed in after him, pulling the door shut as Moo speed off. They'd succeed in getting away, but they weren't out of trouble just yet. Tyler still had the metal piece stuck in his side and Evan realised his friend was a lot more paler than usual.

He could stop the wave of worry that washed over him and Evan prayed that Tyler would still be alive by tomorrow.

"You stubborn son of a bitch," Tyler groaned, shifting slightly from where leaned against the door, "I only fucking confessed to you cause I thought I was going to die, you ruined my dramatic moment Evan, you own me a death,"

Evan sighed, shaking his head, "Don't speak so fucking soon, asshole. We still have to deal with that thing stuck in your side, you know,"

"Oh yeah! Let Lui be my doctor, he's fucking useless when it comes to medicine and I'll be sure to get my owed death,"

Evan shook his head, rolling his eyes and muttering,"asshole," under his breath. If Tyler had enough strength to be cracking jokes, he knew he would be just fine.

Plus, Tyler never went down without a fight.


End file.
